kscans

Chapter 104 - The First Step

—The start time is approaching. We will now begin teleportation to the venue.

After a waiting time of about several dozen minutes, during which we retreated to a corner of the waiting room to escape the murderous glares of the surrounding male players after shamelessly holding hands, and after killing some time for a while,

A system message finally announced the appointed time.

"Haru."

"Yeah, I'm off."

We've said enough. All that's left is to give it my all.

My entire body was enveloped in the light of teleportation a moment before Sora, who was smiling and saying, "Take care"—and in the next instant, my feet touched the floor of a wide, circular arena.

Looking around, I saw a very, very high ceiling and equally high walls with spectator seats surrounding the area. It had the atmosphere of a simple indoor arena, fitting for a preliminary venue.

The stream of players being sent in one after another ended. The number had clearly decreased from what I saw in the waiting room; it was probably about a hundred people now.

…Looking around again, I was strongly reminded of the fact that I was a newcomer.

These people, clad in flawless, impressive equipment, showed no signs of frivolity in their demeanor or expressions. Some were relaxed and even smiling, while others seemed so used to this that they were yawning.

So this is the preliminary round… I'm sure my nerves are acting as a filter, but every single one of them looks like a seasoned warrior.

I have no intention of saying anything foolish like I lack confidence at this point, but I'll have to brace myself and go all out more than I expected—

"Hey, you look nervous."

"…!"

Wow, that surprised me. I hadn't expected anyone to talk to me, and I was at a loss for words. The male player who had spoken to me smiled gently and said, "Sorry for startling you."

"I haven't seen you around, so I thought maybe this was your first time. You okay?"

"Ah, no, my apologies. Haha… you're right, I'm a newcomer, so I was a bit overwhelmed by the atmosphere."

When I laughed to cover it up, he nodded sympathetically as if he understood.

He seems like a nice guy—though his gear is insane.

A scale mail of calm, glossy red leather that you could tell was high-quality at a glance. Unlike its real-world counterpart made of metal plates, it was probably made of some monster material. It had a biological, organic feel to it, an impact that inorganic metal lacked.

His weapon was a single longsword at his waist. I could tell without him even drawing it; from a gaming perspective, it was undoubtedly a masterpiece of the kind that would be called a 'magic sword.'

Even without extravagant decorations, from the details in various places and the aura it exuded, it had… what you might call information pressure.

"I should have introduced myself first. I'm Rotta, you can just call me that. And you don't have to use formal language if you don't want to."

Ah, this guy really is a nice person. His natural smile, which didn't seem forced, and the hand he offered for a handshake—my intuition, honed by dealing with various people at my part-time job, was telling me so.

Even though we're in the preliminaries, there's a high chance that Istia itself is a den of demons. He seems skilled, so it might be my good fortune to get to know him on this occasion.

"Then if you'll excuse me—I'm Haru. A newcomer who's finally made his debut after a three-year charging period. A pleasure to meet you, Rotta."

When I accepted his handshake, he gave me a friendly smile.

"Yeah, a pleasure to meet you too, Haru. Three years is quite a long preparation period, isn't it?"

Rotta probably had no idea that my 'charging period' was just three years of non-stop part-time jobs in the real world. He laughed in a joking manner, as if asking, 'Were you training or something?'

"It was actually supposed to be much later, but I've been blessed with some good encounters recently. I've got my gear sorted out, so I decided to take the plunge and participate."

"I see… It certainly is good gear. To be honest, I was surprised that I didn't recognize any of it. I'm sorry to say, but part of my reason for talking to you was to scout out the enemy."

The handsome face with soft, flaxen hair smiled at me.

Damn it… I wanted to make a handsome character too if I could have…!

"Scouting the enemy, huh. As for me, everything I see is new to me. Unfortunately, I can't give up my one and only strength of being a complete unknown."

"You've got a point. You seem like you're not to be trifled with either, so I'll be sure to stay on my guard."

"You could always let your guard down and show me your back, you know?"

"No way. If I were to be taken down so easily by a first-timer, I can only imagine a future where I'm holed up in bed from the shock."

Even though we've just met, I was surprised at how smoothly I was able to carry on a conversation, but that was more due to Rotta's skill. He was a good talker, or rather, good at getting others to talk—

—The start time has been reached. The Four Pillar War Selection Match, First Preliminary Round, will now begin.

"Whoops."

"So it begins."

An unexpected way to kill time—it would be rude to say so, but my conversation with Rotta thankfully eased my nerves a bit. We received the system message announcing the start of the battle, and our eyes met. We nodded without either of us saying a word.

"…I have a proposal."

"Yeah, let's put some distance between us."

Even though it was only for a short time, it felt a bit off to turn our blades on someone we'd just met right from the start. Perhaps he read my mind, or maybe he felt the same way.

Rotta nodded before I could even explain and offered his hand again.

…I like it. This kind of thing is pretty cool, too.

When I returned his handshake without hesitation, he grinned playfully.

"I won't hold back. But I'll be cheering for you. Let's both give it our best."

"Yeah. I plan on learning from everyone here, not just you, Rotta."

We released our hands, raised them to each other, and simultaneously turned on our heels to head to opposite ends of the arena.

—The countdown to the start of the battle displayed at the top of my vision showed thirty seconds remaining.

Just how big is this arena, anyway? By my estimation… no, I can't tell. At any rate, it's big enough for a hundred people to take their positions with plenty of distance between them.

A hundred people per block out of ten thousand… so does that mean there are over a hundred of these facilities? Ah no, it's a game, so it's probably an instance-type area that's generated on the spot.

—Twenty seconds remaining.

Even for a preliminary round, the number of spectators in the outer seats was considerable. Some were here with participants, while others were probably just random viewers who had been teleported in.

It seemed true that many enjoyed the festival as spectators rather than participants; there might be at least five hundred people here.

Sora-san is—ah, there she is.

I was worried she might be getting hit on, but I spotted a flash of gold mixed in with a group of female players.

When our eyes met, my adorable partner gave me a small wave from a distance.

—Ten seconds remaining.

I reached the wall at the outer edge.

Having your back to a wall is often an advantage. Several players who had the same idea had taken up positions along the wall, eagerly awaiting the countdown to reach zero.

—9

I exhaled.

—8

The tension didn't fade.

—7

But strangely, I was calm.

—6

The brand-new Agaphanthus brooch on my chest seemed to glitter as if in encouragement.

—5

The left hand I raised was covered in the night-sky gauntlet crafted by my dedicated artisan.

—4

The hand I clenched held the confidence I had built up in a hurry.

—3

I recalled the words of encouragement from the crimson artisan.

—2

The memory of the indigo prankster's cheers came back to me.

—1

Whenever I close my eyes,

My partner who watches over me—is there to push me forward.

"[Panga Fool]—[Parabellum Bullet]."

A black knife in my left hand. And in my right, a seamless red dagger, its entire form from blade to hilt made of translucent crimson crystal.

—0

The system call announcing the start of the battle echoed.

The battle cries rising from here and there.

The roars of the surrounding crowd.

Letting them all fade into the distance, I muttered,

"—Let's get this started. Ignition."

And now, I take my first step onto the grand stage.